Take me as I am
by MaybeMeagan
Summary: She was always looking for her Prince. Sakura finds that the road to ever after is longer then you might. SasuSaku. AU.


Hey. This is my first fanfic and in reality it is just a remake of an old one. How cool am I? I like fairy tales sohere it is and I will never abuse flash backs ever again -bangs head into wood- lol... god am I mature or what? Anywho I hope you enjioy cause I feel liek it took me forever to rewrite it. The orginal is of teh same name and under my old account zianna. I reread it and I kind of wanted to kill myself a little bit.

Any who :D. I own nothing :3

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Chapter One: Is this the beginning?

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She was the most lovely Princess that had been born into the world yet, everyone agreed. Her pink hair fell gracefully down and her green orbs were the very envy of all the other girls.

At this very moment this princess was sitting in the highest balcony in the what could have been the third highest balcony in the kingdom, give or take. It was the first sunrise. Her favorite time of day. This was when she could breathe in the day break. She smelt the olive groves that grew out her window, but most of all she saw the many hues of happiness shifting lazily throughout the sky. The cherry blossoms had bloomed. Their gentle pink filling the scene.

She exhaled it all in. Reaching her hand out to grab a floating petal. As she caught it someone tenderly grabbed her from behind.

"Sakura!" The man told her as he leaned in for the kiss. Sakura also leaned in.

"Sakura!" He voice didn't sound like this, Sakura noted as everything started to get fuzzy.

"SAKURA! DAMN IT WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!" Sakura sleepily opened her green eyes to come face to face with four sets of eyes staring at her. Two were a picturesque blue, like those of frozen lakes. The two others were deep in color.

" Ino, you didn't have to scream so loud," yawned Sakura as she brushed the sleep from her eyes and smiled up at her family. They were all young and obviously not related. The only two that looked remotely similar were the two blondes, Ino and Naruto. They argues like true siblings as well.

It was really a wonder Sakura hadn't waken up early, seeing as the two were arguing about the best way to wake her up. Ino arguing that screaming at her would work finely and Naruto claiming that the smell of food always worked for him.

" The sun has been out for a while now!" the only other girl, Ino, yells as she tugs the blanket out from under Sakura causing her to roll over on the ground. Sakura, rubbing her temple, lets goes of many curses and says many un-lady like things.

As Sakura brushed herself up and put her hands through her pink hair she thought about her dream for a moment. She didn't live in the third highest balcony in the kingdom. Se lived in a crowded hut. There wasn't a prince waiting for her. Especially not him. He would never wait for her.

" Ino, stop being annoying!" Naruto yells, face getting flushed with anger. Sakura quickly regains a sense of reality and looks up to find her family arguing among themselves.

"Shut up, Naruto!"

" Make me, Ugly!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, STUPID?!"

" Why don't both of you clam down, Kay thanks." This was Sakura, who was covering her ears. They were both just so damn loud, for lack of better words.

" Yeah!" another boy chimes in. His name is Kiba and he is holding a dog who seems to bark in a sort of agreement. " Your voice is starting to getting on my last nerve."

" Your all troublesome," quietly states another boy who seems to have fallen asleep leaning on the sides of their home, which was nothing more then a hut. His name is Shikamaru. He opens his eyes briefly, adorning a bored look then closes them again, as if it takes too much effort to keep them open any longer.

Sakura looked around the room and laughed. Her laugh didn't fit her small frame but she didn't care, she shook with each sound. The others joined in even the boring boy.

If Sakura could describe each of her housemates she would describe them in this order starting with Ino:

Ino was, in a sense, the perfect girl. She has long blonde hair that trailed along her back and made her pale face shine. She keeps in a high ponytail most days, because she just can't bring herself to cut it. Some called her a tad bit boy crazy, Sakura would sue the words fan girl. She carries herself with a sense of pride and you can find her picking flowers when the weather is nice. She sells them in the market in beautiful arrangements, as a way to make extra money. Most nights you can see her waiting for a star to fall.

Naruto had odd markings on his face and along his stomach. Sakura never truly understood why. He had a kind but stupid look to him. He was a boy who stood up with his head high. He once fought off a group of bandits with only one other man, both being just boys of fourteen and another member of the house. He laughs more then most but if you can catch him alone when dusk is just approaching you can see him staring off into the distance. His brow furrowed and jaw tightly clenched as if he was looking at something you just can't see.

Kiba had brown hair and matching brown eyes. He had a plain face, nixing the two triangles that bounced off his cheeks. He was handsome but not in a way that you noticed. He felt more stable around animals and Sakura would often see him speaking to Akumaru, his dog, as if he was a human. Sakura knew that underneath the show he was just a shy little puppy. He had a deep bond with Naruto, and what Naruto had in passion he had in compassion. He often wrote when he thought no one was looking, poems about love and distaste.

Shikamaru. Now he was tricky. The best Sakura could describe him would be he is like a yawn. Sometimes he's all there for a while and sometimes he was brief. Fleeting. He had dark hair and eyes, darker then Kiba. He had a snake face. He was the best gambler in the family due to the fact he had the best poker face. He managed time and money well and he was a sort of peace keeper. His dream was to become an innkeeper one day and raise a nice family. He doesn't look like it but he's an idealist, this Sakura would say with a smile.

" Sorry, Pig!" Sakura laughed as she blocked a flimsy punch from Ino. " I stayed up late last night!" It was true. She had been watching the moon.

" What were you doing that made you sleep in?" Naruto asked as he flicked some sleep out of his own eyes, he always stayed up late but was an early riser. He just couldn't help it.

" We all can't be like you!" Sakura stuck out her tongue and began to imitate Naruto.

" I can stay up all night and then get up on time. RAMEN!" She giggled as she did so which made Naruto and the rest of the hut laugh, even Shikamaru.

Sakura let out a sigh, _maybe they will forget. _

" Well, get more sleep." That was Kiba, much to Sakura's increasing dismay. He never stayed up late. He was kind of like dog, Sakura noted. He got all the sleep he needed and even took naps in the lazy parts of the day.

"You're always sleeping," Shikamaru laughed as Kiba awkwardly shrugged and Naruto started to laugh. Sakura also laughed. She hated her laugh. It was soft and was almost like she was singing.

" I just can not believe you would sleep in today of all days!" Ino scrambles to find words she was speaking so fast. She disappears for a moment and reappears bringing Sakura a bowl full of what looked like pig slop or barf maybe even a mixture of the two. The taste brought Sakura out of her day dreams with the first bite. She found her self looking around their home. It was no where near the fantastic castle of her dream. It was a hut. A hut that was quickly falling apart. The walls were beginning to sag and the many things that were keeping them up were beginning to sag themselves. The color was a dull brown and dirt was everywhere. It wasn't a suitable living space. The measly hut that couldn't hold five people and a dog for much longer.

" I know, I know," Sakura said in between mouthfuls. Slop was much better then no slop. Her family was rushing around, but she couldn't remember what the big deal was.

" Guys?" She asked her voice faltering a bit. " Why is everyone so on edge?" She was combated with a bunch of blank stares. _I feel as if I'm forgetting something…_

" Did you really forget, stupid?" Kiba was the first to talk, seeing how Ino's jaw had dropped, a vein popping in her forehead, and Naruto looked like he was thinking too hard to find words to say. Sakura rubbed the back of her head awkwardly and nodded.

"Today's the day we visit the castle," He told her, his hand covering part of his face. Sakura about spit put her mouth full of slop at hearing that. _How could I forget that, out of all things! _She screamed to herself as a blush found a home on her high cheeks.

When the royal family was having balls and dinner parties the family would often crash the party and steal some things wile they were doing so. The last visit, during the welcoming party that honored the visitors from the Hyuuga , they had come back with enough to afford a lot of food and even build on to the hut., which surprisingly was even smaller then.

That raid was about a year ago, giver or take and she had grown much since then. The only thing that changed was him, in Sakura's mind.

That was the day she met Sasuke Uchiha, second prince of the kingdom. There is only one word to describe him. Beautiful. Another word could be tragic. And if you wanted to use three you would probably come up with dark. He often just sat looking out of a window. Occasionally he would come out of the castle to see the market and make sure everything was up to par.

In all actuality that was just a cover up. Some days the prince just got bored and the market always looked so pleasing on nice days. He would never let the common folk think that. He would never let that little secret be leaked. Uchihas were known to be a little emotionally impaired. Meaning they didn't like to let people know they actually liked the little things in life like the rest of the village.

Pride can do that to people.

Another reason he didn't want people to know was because of them. Every prince has them, of course. They are sort of like parasites. Most commonly referred to as fan girls. If he just let everyone know his secrets willy nilly, the fan girls would attack. He had learned that despite the small frames of the fan girls, they were quite deadly. The deadliest and most dangerous being the very Ino Yamanaka, as previously mentioned. She had no interest in getting to know the Prince, though, just the fantastic love stories that could be weaved around him.

Sakura hated that about Ino. She hated how pretty she was. She hated how confident she was. But most all, she hated how she was the kind of girl men fell in love with. Plain and simple. She would never tell Ino these things that settled in the bottom of her heart. Yet, every time she thought of Prince Sasuke, she would think that ugly thought that found as home in the deepest left corner of her heart.

"Remember when we all got to meet the Hyuuga's last time?" This was Kiba. He remembered the day about half a year ago fondly. Sakura shaked her head and smiled.

"Yeah that was the day I met Prince Sasuke." Sakura mumbled this as she stared off into the walls of the hut as if she was the only one there.

In fact she was not the only one there. This is also a little known fact: None of the other members of her family knew about this little fiasco. If anything this was their first time hearing their sister had even met the dreary prince in his very own castle.

Sakura didn't noticed their shocked expressions until only moments later. _Shit, I never told them did I! _She screamed to herself after a couple moments of fond reminiscing.

" You. Met. Prince," Ino couldn't even find the words to finish. She just stared again, mouth agape. Sakura brushed the back of her hair awkwardly trying to think of something to say.

"It was when we got separated," Sakura murmured to her feet.

" When did that happen?" Naruto, who had a tone of envy and disgust, said as he looked sullenly to the right. He never like the prince. There was just something about him, the young man would say if you asked him about it.

" I remember, we caught of with you after," Kiba came in, to save his brother from what could have been an explosion of anger at any given time. Kiba thought it best to avoid that seeing as Ino looked like she was about to pop.

' Sasuke!" Ino resumed to scream not really taking note of what the others had been talking about. She was so shocked that she almost fainted, turning an almost sickly white.

It was the truth. She was supposed to be in the south wing of the castle with Kiba and Naruto when it happened but somehow managed to find the prices chambers as the two boys met the Hyuugas. It was all fate really.

" What happened!" This was Shikamaru. Oddly enough, even he was interested about Sakura's tale.

With a sigh Sakura began to tell them the story of how she got lost with Akumaru after Naruto began a distraction. She was trying to find her way through the castle when she heard a cry of pain. Being the kind soul that she is -- Ino rolled her eyes at this point-- she went to explore what was happening. She found the prince in his chambers -- she guessed it was at about the same time the boys met the princess-- and she saw that he was injured. So she healed him --she decided to leave out the part of falling for him-- and left to find the others.

To better understand it must be noted that Sakura can heal. Her touch is a healers touch and is the product of luck and of being born into it. It is found in only so many people. The root of many joys and sorrows, those of which are a story for another day.

There was a silence after Sakura's story only to be interrupted by Kiba whispering to Naruto.

" Sakura would save me if I was dying!" Naruto yelled as he about socked Kiba, who was snickering wildly. This was only interrupted by the blank stares of everyone, even Kiba stopped snickering and looked rather solemn.

Ino coughed and looked away as Shikamaru started twiddling his thumbs not looking to Naruto, whose face was starting blanc. They all started to laugh later, reassuring him this wasn't so.

"Sorry, but you should have seen your face," Kiba told his brother, rubbing his shoulder. They were odd like that. Kiba being the one that greatly admired Naruto, doing about anything for him.

" It's no big deal," Naruto shrugged and laughed, the two talking about something the others couldn't quite grasp seeing as they were now out of a world. An incredibly sheltered little world.

" What did he look like in person!" Ino shrieked as she grabbed hold of Sakura, making her tell her every little detail of meeting the prince, from how he smelled to if it was true that his middle finger was just slightly larger then his index.

" He was incredibly… almost surreal in person. He smelled kind of like lavender…. How would I know that , Ino?"

" Guys, we need a plan for tonight," Shikamaru cleared his voice as all the others looked to him and sighed. For the most part the other members of the house hated planning. They hated the very thought of actually planning something and not going full heartedly without an idea, except Sakura and Shikamaru who cherished a good plan.

" Why don't we just sneak in from the hole we did last time?" Ino suggested as she started to play with her golden locks, already bored.

" We can't," Shikamaru old her already formulating a plan. " Yesterday I checked and it seems they have cleared that part off, for construction of the castle."

" Like they need anymore space," This one liner was combated by smirks and giggles.

" I can make a smoke bomb, Shikamaru," Kiba noted after he had recovered from the joke.

" That will come in handy if we get caught, but I explored the castle grounds with Naruto yesterday and the only way in is-"

" The front door," Naruto interrupted.

" Yes, so we have to find a way to sneak in the front." This stumped the family. Usually they could just sneak in but coming in the front door? _Now _that would take talent. Sakura thought as she bite her lip.

" We could dress one of us up as a noble?" suggested Ino, a thin line of a frown on her face. She didn't think it was a very good idea but she really wanted to help.

" Ino, that was actually genius!" Sakura yelled as she took Ino in a tight embrace, the little blond looking shocked, not realizing it was a good plan.

" But who?" Shikamaru asked but his face gleamed with hopefulness. " It can't be Naruto or Kiba, they got in trouble last month." He then took a pause to give the two a rather stern look. They got in trouble last month for playing a prank in the town square. It was ingenuous prank that included rotten eggs, feathers, cats, and orange marmalade.

" How about me and Sakura?" Ino suggested, really wanted to go to a ball. " If we dress up nicely no one will be able to recognize us!"

" That's true but how will we hide you?"

" Can't Naruto borrow some nice clothes from the theatre house?" It was a little known fact that the people who worked their rather liked Naruto and really found that he had a lot of moxxy.

" That's actually a good idea," Shikamaru took note and it was done. They had a plan. Naruto was sent off to steal the clothes and Ino set work on Sakura making sure she looked like royalty.

" This won't hurt a bit!" Ino told Sakura as she took out her hidden treasures. Sakura, from experience, knew that couldn't mean anything good.

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Somewhere on another side of the kingdom sat a prince, grumbling about life.

" Remind me again why I have to go to this?" He sighed as he brushed his hand through his raven lock. He was the cliché dark knight. He was dressed in only his fineries and was being inspected by two young females.

" Because you have to Princess, lighten up!" The silver hair girl mumbled as she put on the last touches. She stepped back and admired her handiwork. Every tiny embellishment and golden button was sewed on by her and the prince was basically her creation tonight, she really wanted to show him off.

" That looks lovely , Suzuki," a raven tinted with violet hair girl replied, her outfit was also put together by the silver haired girl, a grand purple dress with roses lightly sewn on it and a black sash around the waist.

" Thank you, Hinata-hime," Suzuki smiled as she went behind her mistress. The Princess Hinata was her lady and she was proud that she admired her work. Both girls has silver eyes, a trademark of the Hyuuga royals.

" Hinata, you honestly don't like these things do you?" The prince asked as he looked himself over, Suzuki did a good job, but it would be the day when pigs sprouted fins and swam that he would ever admit it aloud.

" I don't like them, Sasuke,' The princess admitted shyly. " But I have to work on people skills."

" I hope their won't be many perverts and fan girls," The princess mumbled as he fidgeted in his clothes a bit. Suzuki laughed while Hinata looked to the marble floor , both knowing there would be.

" Maybe tonight will be different?" Suzuki suggested and Sasuke thought of pink hair and green eyes. He didn't know why but he just did.


End file.
